


i carry it in

by morningssofgold



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22023781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morningssofgold/pseuds/morningssofgold
Summary: Malcolm had once thought he wasn't dad material, he realizes that he had been wrong.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 20
Kudos: 82





	i carry it in

“‘I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart’” Malcolm said softly, beginning the poem he often read to his daughter. He knew most people read their children bedtime stories but he had taken to reading her poetry since before she was born, over two years ago. The bookshelf he had installed in her room contained many volumes of poetry, stretching across various time periods but he always came back to this particular poem.

She was curled up in his lap, her little face buried in the crook of his neck, wearing her organic cotton pink bunny pajamas courtesy of Lovey–which is what his mother had decided to call herself in the place of Grandma as she was “much too young.” His little girl followed along as he read. 

This was part of their nightly routine and Dani left them to it though Malcolm knew she couldn’t help but watch from the doorway as she found the two of them to be too adorable for words.

“Do you wanna try this next line?” Malcolm asked, lightly resting his chin on her soft, deep golden brown curls. Curls that were very close to his wife’s.

She nodded, angling closer to her father, “‘and this is the…wo…’”

“‘wonder’” he supplied gently, helping her. “Keep going.”

“‘wonder that’s keep…keep…ing the stars a…part,’” she finished proudly, looking up at him for approval.

He smiled at her, his heart impossibly full, “You are brilliant, sweetheart!” Malcolm kissed the top of her head. And she was–her name, Zahra, meant as much. 

“‘I carry your heart, I carry it in my heart,’” he recited the poem’s final line. Words he felt with everything within him.

––––––––––––––––––

Malcolm remembered when Dani told him about the name she’d finally decided on. She had been six months pregnant at the time, her blanketed feet in his lap, curled up on the couch as she drank her nightly tea, always Earl Grey.

“I think I’ve got the perfect name.” Malcolm scooted closer to her, his hands resting on her growing stomach as they often did. His curiosity had been piqued. Six months had passed and Dani still hadn’t been able to come up with something she liked. Something she felt would perfectly suit their daughter. Malcolm would be fine with whatever she decided, he just couldn’t believe this was actually happening to him of all people. 

“What is it?”

“Zahra,” he’d tilted his head, the name certainly sounded pretty but he was more interested in the meaning of it. Knowing Dani the way he did, he knew she’d chosen this particular name for reason. “It means 'brilliant' in Arabic.”

He grinned, “Well, that’s certainly appropriate.”

Over the rim of her tea mug, her big brown eyes sparkled the way he’d seen many times before when she looked at him,“Yes, I agree but it also means ‘bright.’” Suddenly he knew exactly what his wife was getting at.

The Whitly last name was inescapable. He could legally change his last name a hundred times and he would still be known as Malcolm Whitly, forever paying for the legacy his father left behind. It was a legacy that not even his wife was safe from. Pictures of Dani at a Jessica Whitly hosted charity luncheon, an event she had been strong-armed into attending, had made their way into a society magazine once. The publication had identified her as “Mrs. Danika Whitly.” 

Seeing that had disturbed Malcolm greatly. Dani was the toughest person he’d ever met, tougher than he was by far, but he’d go to the ends of the earth to protect her from the rot that last name represented. The Whitlys owned almost three quarters of New York City but not a single person would want their lives. And why should they? The lies, the deception, the serial murders, the shame. It was a last name he spent his entire adult life running away from. Dani choosing a name for their daughter that meant “bright” was everything to him. It meant that no matter what, their little girl would always be a reminder of the future they’d chosen together. No longer beholden to a painful, duplicitous past.

Dani had noticed how far away Malcolm looked when she’d told him about her name selection and she didn’t want him to get lost in a million memories, each more torturous than the last, not now, “I seem to remember charging you with deciding a middle name.”

He’d blinked at her; returning to the present, his ice blue eyes warming once more, “I remember that as well and I did just that: Elizabeth Jacqueline.” 

Her brows had risen over two middle names but he’d explained that Elizabeth was for his grandmother Elizabeth Milton. Grandmother Milton had died long before Malcolm was born but he’d known it would please his mother. Jacqueline for Jackie, Gil’s wife. He’d also told her that he’d known from the moment he found out they were having a girl that he wanted to pay homage to the woman who’d cared for him like a son.

Zahra Elizabeth Jacqueline Bright, it was certainly unusual but to them it was perfect. A new addition to their new normal.

––––––––––––––––––––

Dani watched from the doorway as Malcolm tucked their daughter in with a kiss to her forehead and a soft “I love you” though she was already knocked out. He brought her favorite teddy bear–another gift from Lovey–to her, smiling to himself as Zahra unconsciously cuddled it closer. 

She never quite imagined that this would be her life. Dani’s two most unexpected roles in life: wife and mother were her proudest ones. Motherhood was something she had thought about in the abstract but never as something that would actually happen. It had been about eight months after she and Malcolm had gotten married. Gil had sent her home from work after she’d thrown up twice at their crime scene. Dani had thought she’d simply been ill but after taking a test or twelve of them, she realized that it had been far more than that.

Dani remembered how nervous she had been to break the news to Malcolm. She knew he was haunted by his own childhood. She had been there through the night terrors, the hallucinations and the insomnia. She watched him take a wide assortment of prescription medication every morning in order to function properly. She knew it was all because of what his own father had done to him. She couldn’t imagine how he’d react to the news that he was now a father himself.

Malcolm had noticed Dani's hands on her stomach, something she had starting doing almost the second she realized that her body had now become a home and asked her if she was feeling alright, his ice blue eyes wide with concern. She’d laughed because she honestly didn’t know the answer to that. She remembered moving closer to him, placing his hands on her flat stomach, covering them with her own.

“Bright, we need to talk.” Dani saw confusion coloring Malcolm’s nearly translucent blue eyes. She watched as a myriad of emotions passed over his face before understanding and pure shock settled in. His mouth opened and closed over and over as he searched for something–anything to say. Malcolm had honestly looked a little close to fainting and she'd worried about her ability to catch him in her current condition.

“Dani…you’re…” He hadn’t even been able to say it.

She’d smiled sweetly, “You’re gonna be a dad, Bright.” Dani had no idea how Malcolm would take the news that even she couldn’t believe but she hadn't been prepared for him dropping to his knees to be eye level with her stomach. He’d hugged her close, speaking directly to the life they’d created together.

“Hi there,” his voice wavered, thick with emotion. “It’s your dad. I know I’ve only known you for a few minutes but I just want you know that your mom and I both love you very much and we can’t wait to meet you.” Malcolm had kissed her stomach through her thin beige top and Dani’s chest had bloomed with an adoration she could scarcely contain as she carded her fingers through his dark hair.

––––––––––––––––––

“Hey, do you remember that BDSM case we worked some time ago?” Malcolm asked, handing Dani a steaming mug of tea before settling beside her on the couch.

She snorted, stretching her borrowed plaid pajama clad legs out so they rested in his lap, “You’re gonna have to be more specific. We’ve had a few of those over the years.”

“True but you remember that one where I had to go undercover at that sex club and you found my obvious discomfort with the whole thing hilarious.”

Dani took a sip of her tea, her beautiful deep brown eyes alight with remembrance, “Oh…now, I remember that. You were dating that girl at the time.” _Oh, here we go._ Describing the situation as dating would’ve been a bit of stretch but Malcolm decided it was in his best interest not to correct her. “You’d started it because your therapist told you that having sex would cure your nightmares.”

“If that were truly the case, my nightmares would’ve stopped ages ago,” he said dryly.

She ignored him, “You know, to this day that is still the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” He knew. Dani had told Gabrielle as much _to her face_ at their wedding reception when the poor woman had come to offer her congratulations. Dani stopped just short of outright calling Gabrielle a crackpot, something she certainly would’ve done if he hadn’t dragged her off in the direction of the dance floor for what was probably their third Waltz of the evening.

“Mrs. Bright, are you quite done?” Malcolm looked at her, a smirk playing at the edges of his lips. This wasn’t the first and likely wouldn't be the last time Dani went on off on this particular tangent but he couldn’t help but be endlessly amused by her never-ending ability to become annoyed by something that happened so long ago.

Dani rolled her eyes, “Fine, I’ll stop. What about the case?” 

Dani idly tapped her slender fingers against the tea mug, waiting for him to continue. His eyes immediately traveled to her rings. The thin platinum band matched his. Her engagement ring was currently in a safe in his closet. She only wore it for special occasions though due to his mother; if they weren’t working, there was a special occasion every weekend. 

She’d worried that particular ring would draw unwanted attention especially when she was off duty and out and about with Zahra. The carat count was in the double digits, especially now since he’d had it refurbished as an anniversary gift to her a year ago. The two other rings Dani wore with her wedding band had been a little gift she’d gotten for herself. They were delicate silver rings, one contained Zahra’s birthstone and the other contained his. Malcolm hadn’t known that Dani had the rings made but when he’d curiously asked about it, she explained that it was “so my loves are close to me at all times.” Malcolm had teased her about going soft on him but his heart had swelled at the gesture and it never failed to make him want to give Dani the world. And though she never asked for it, it never stopped him from trying anyway. 

“Right, the case,” he said refocusing, meeting her eyes once again. Dani shifted, putting her mug on the nearby coffee table, giving him her undivided attention. “So yeah, I followed the guy–one of our persons of interest at the time to the park for more info and a mom there asked me which one of the kids playing on the swings was mine.”

Dani scooted a bit closer, reaching out, lightly brushing her husband’s hair behind his ear. She was almost in his lap at that point and Malcolm’s arms wrapped around her small frame, gratefully absorbing her warmth. 

“And what did you say?” Dani knew the exact case he was talking about and Zahra hadn’t even been a thought back then. Truthfully, her feelings for Malcolm hadn’t even been a thought back then. Not really.

Malcolm smiled though there was no discernible humor behind it. He squeezed her hip reflexively, “I honestly thought the question was ridiculous. I mentioned my tricky childhood and Benzo dependency and how none of that exactly made me dad material.”

Dani sighed, her fingers still absently playing in his hair. They’d been together a little over three years now and even though Malcolm’s good days far outnumbered his bad ones, there were still times when those stories from when they’d first met, absolutely broke her heart.

“Can I tell you a secret?” She asked softly as Malcolm looked up, a sadness he couldn’t quite hide from her filling those translucent blue eyes. “Every time I see you reading to Zahra, I fall more in love with you. When I see the two of you smiling and laughing and being silly together; I know that no matter what, her childhood will never ever be tricky. She adores you, just as I do.” Dani watched as the sadness faded, an incredible tenderness taking its place.

Malcolm reached up, his “never-better” but not shaky hand gently winding beneath her curls, pulling her down for a kiss. Every morning as he watched Dani sleep peacefully beside him, he thanked whomever would listen to him that such a perfect woman had agreed to marry him. As he reluctantly pulled back; from the corner of his eye, Malcolm spied a pink bunny pajama wearing blur streaking across the living room.

Zahra heard her parents talking and naturally came out to investigate just as the daughter of a detective would.

Dani noticed too. “There goes _your_ daughter,” she said wryly as she reclaimed her now lukewarm tea.

Malcolm laughed, “Why is she suddenly _my_ daughter?” 

Shooting him her typical arched brow look, “Well, let’s see…she’s never where she’s supposed to be and gets away with her cuteness. Does that remind you of anyone?”

As if to punctuate her mother’s point, Zahra hurriedly made her way over to them with a “Whatcha doin’?”

As Malcolm stared down into the impish little face that looked uncannily like his own–eyes and all, gently brushing back the halo of curls around Zahra’s temples, he suddenly understood why Dani scolded him so much for using what she called the puppy dog eyes on her. It _really_ was hard to resist. Not that he ever did resist their daughter, much to Dani’s displeasure at always having to be “the bad guy” as she put it.

“Daddy and I are about to go to bed, somewhere you should be.” Dani said, using her mom voice which sounded quite a bit like her cop voice.

“Mommyyyyy,” Zahra whined, batting her big ice blue eyes at Dani; wanting very much to stay up with them.

“You can stay, sweetheart.” Malcolm stage whispered, picking her up and settling her between them, a smile identical to his daughter’s stretching across his face. Zahra giggled happily and Dani shook her head, hiding her own smile behind her mug. Those two were impossible. 

–––––––––––––––––––

“Come on, Mommy,” Malcolm said, shifting a softly snoring Zahra to one arm as he pulled Dani by the hand in the direction of the bedroom. In a matter of hours, Gil would undoubtably be calling them in for a case and the man Zahra called Grandpa would definitely be expecting them to arrive at the crime scene on time.

Dani noticed how their daughter always found her way to the crook of Malcolm’s neck not unlike the way he always found his way to hers. She wondered if he realized that he made Zahra feel safe in that way. She also wondered if he realized that their little girl knew that no harm would ever come to her as long as her father was there.

“Um…Bright, her big girl bed is that way,” she said, pointing toward the hallway.

“I know,” he smirked and Dani knew she’d somehow wake up to Zahra’s footie covered feet in her face just like the last time Malcolm had indulged their daughter and let her sleep with them. Dani still didn’t understand how Zahra who had started out safely between them, had ended up lying crossways over both of their chests.

She could believe that Malcolm had thought once upon a time that he wasn’t dad material but to Dani, he’d never been anything but.

**Author's Note:**

> Baby Brightwell is my absolute weakness so I put together a bunch of my headcanons and gave it a try. The title and the poem I referenced is "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]" by E.E. Cummings.


End file.
